Godspeed
by aikitty
Summary: COMPLETE Sequel to BH&H. When Kagome accidentally goes to Heaven, Inuyasha decides it's time to return the favor and troop up to the soft cloudy place and bring her home.
1. Chapter 01: Deja Vu

GODSPEED

Chapter 01: Deja Vu

* * *

Inuyasha and Kouga were cooperating in that it was the first time they had done anything together without fighting. It wasn't _exactly _cooperating, but it was as close as they had ever come.

It was in unison that they gaped at the ashy patch of grass where the object of their previous fight, Kagome, had been standing only moments before...until she had disappeared in a puff of vibrant pink smoke, like a witch making a flashy exit in a sticky situation. Inuyasha thought his eye might have twitched when a patch of bright green grass and an array of brilliant, colorful wild flowers burst into full bloom in the burned patch, despite the oncoming of the autumn weather hinted at by the chilly wind.

"Kagome's gone!" Kouga finally yelled, ice-blue eyes still wide with shock.

"What the hell just happened?" Inuyasha finally snapped, glaring at the wolf demon who stood on the opposite side of the fluttering flower patch, his shadow dimming the blossoms' vibrant colors.

Kouga's gaze abruptly leapt up to Inuyasha's face and he snarled at the accusatory tone of voice his opponent had used.

"Like I know!" he shouted. "It's your fault, anyway!"

"What did you just say, you wimpy wolf?" Inuyasha growled, coiling his fingers into fists as he prepared to attack his rival.

"What, are you deaf as well as stupid?" Kouga jeered. He bared his fangs wolfishly and allowed a small growl to rumble from his throat. "I said it was your fault! It's your fault Kagome's powers or whatever aren't working right!"

"It's not my fault!" Inuyasha insisted with a snarl, despite the small feeling of guilt building in his stomach. It was _indirectly _because of him that Kagome's inherent spiritual powers were behaving as they had been lately. When Kagome had ventured into hell itself to seek him out after she had been tricked by Naraku, her priestess powers seemingly enjoyed being used with the abundance and ease that came with being in a spiritual plane. Since they had returned together a week ago, her abilities had been chaotically changing. Sometimes they disappeared entirely and Kagome would not be able to sense even the Shikon shards, and still other times her pure power would flare up so suddenly and so strangely she would radiate light. Her hyperactive powers had, at the very least, made her a clear beacon for surrounding demons. Inuyasha had been busy all week.

However, Inuyasha felt that he could hardly be singled out for all of the blame regarding Kagome's abrupt disappearance. It had been when Kouga showed up that things had gone really wrong---and if the wolf demon had never appeared at all, Inuyasha told himself, then Kagome would still be enjoying the pleasant autumn weather right here before him.

"We've gotta find Kagome!" Kouga announced, forgoing the oncoming argument as he bent down to inspect the bright new vegetation, sneezing as pollen from one of the wild flowers carried on the breeze and fluttered up into his face. Inuyasha, who remained across from him, sank into a sulky pose.

"You think I don't know that?" Inuyasha said with a sneer. Then, he deflated. "Who knows where the hell she is now?"

Kouga began to pace back and forth in the dying grass irritably, carefully avoiding Kagome's small garden. He folded his arms over his chest and lost himself to thought. Inuyasha took a likewise pose and skulked, twitching his ears and partially closing his golden eyes to block out the sunlight. Minutes raced by relentlessly and the morning went on, leaving both demons to puzzle over the situation, a mutually quiet project that was broken only occasionally by low growls or angry snorts, and not so occasionally a swear word.

"Let's ask Kaede," Inuyasha suggested suddenly, filled with the reassurance that the elderly priestess would know exactly where Kagome had gone, and, more importantly, how to bring her home.

"Kaede? That old witch you guys leech off of?" Kouga clarified.

"Who else, moron? Let's go!" Inuyasha ordered with an air of great importance as he rolled his eyes. He began sprinting towards Kaede's cottage where it sat flung out on the far edge of town, shaded by the colored leaves on the branches of the trees.

"What the hell's the big idea?" Kouga shouted when Inuyasha came to an abrupt halt. Kouga made a small leap to his right to avoid colliding with his foe; a move that served to make him look like an awkward dancer. Inuyasha missed it entirely.

"Wait a minute," he growled instead. _"I'm_ going to go see Kaede. _You're_ going to go stick your wimpy nose in someone else's business. Now beat it!"

"And trust you save my darling Kagome, mutt? I don't think so!" Kouga argued. He bared his teeth once more.

"She's not your darling, and it's your fault we're in this mess to begin with, stinking wolf!" Inuyasha insisted confidently, baring his own teeth and growling. "I don't need your help and neither does Kagome!"

"Don't kid yourself, puppy," Kouga spat scathingly, cracking his knuckles with marked impatience. "Kagome needs a real man in her life!"

"Why, you---! Today is the day I _kill_ you!" Inuyasha challenged venomously, unsheathing his sword and pouncing at the angry wolf demon with fervor.

* * *

Inuyasha and Kouga passed much of the afternoon brawling in an unworked field near the village, scraping up grass and leaving craters in the earth, before they were discovered by the noise they were generating and then successfully separated by Sango and Miroku. They were then dragged back to Kaede's home, where, after several lengthy arguments attempting to justify actions and situate blame, the story of Kagome's disappearance was finally told.

They started their recount with Kouga's arrival at the crest of a hill where Inuyasha and Kagome had been sitting. The weather had been fadingly warm, and Kagome wanted to spend one last day relaxing in it before it turned cold and they started their journey towards Naraku again. Inuyasha had been with her to protect her, as he had been accompanying her much more often than he had been since they returned from hell. Kouga had appeared late in the morning to make a general check-up on Kagome's well-being, which, of course, upset Inuyasha. The two demons had begun to fight with one another while Kagome tried, in her own way, to alleviate the rising tempers of her two friends.

When Kagome had finally lost her own temper, she stepped between the two brawling men and shouted, "Would you stop fighting for once in your lives, for heaven's sake?"

After her statement, she had vanished in a puff of pure, pink light and tendrils of glowing smoke. She left the two stunned canine demons exactly where they had been while in her place there was nothing but a burned patch of earth on the hillside. For moments after that, Inuyasha and Kouga had only been able to stare down at the ashen patch in quiet surprise, with even the bugs silent in their humming, before flowers burst into life and Inuyasha and Kouga renewed their fight.

When the story came to a close, Kaede drew herself into a thoughtful silence. After several moments passed, she heaved a great, tired sigh and wondered to herself how this odd group of humans and demons managed to find themselves with so many problems of every conceivable variety. She faintly wondered if they were capable of living without chaos. _What will they do when Naraku is slain?_ she asked herself, shaking her head.

The old priestess hummed once and then focused on the newest problem of the group, looking into the faces of the gathered company. Only the adults were present and waiting for her attention; Shippou had gone into town to show his new friend Miharu and her guardians Taro and Amaya around, pointing out where which people lived and the best places to play.

"You gonna help us or not, old hag?" Inuyasha grumpily asked after he lost his patience. Sango cast him a deadly glare.

"Let her think, dog crap!" Kouga growled before the demon slayer could remark at all. Sango loosed an exasperated sigh and threw her arms up into the air in a mark of hopelessness.

"It seems to me..." Kaede began, preventing the two males before her from starting a new brawl with one another. Both Kouga and Inuyasha immediately gave Kaede their attention, staring up at her expectantly for answers. Kaede cleared her throat. "It seems to me that this is indeed a disaster. I myself am unable to assist ye in this new problem of yours..."

"But---"

"But," she went on before Inuyasha could protest, "ye ought to travel to the mountains and find the Oracle. She might be able to lend ye an answer."

"The Oracle?" Inuyasha and Kouga repeated in unison, sending swift, angry glares at each other before concentrating on Kaede once more.

"Yes," Kaede confirmed. "She is a woman of fate who can foretell the future. She knows all that has been, and all that will be---for all people. If ye come to her with a question, she will lend ye an answer...if she deems your question worthwhile to answer."

"In the mountains, right?" Inuyasha repeated. Kaede nodded her head and Inuyasha straightened, a determined look on his face. "It's settled then! I'm going to the mountains to talk to this know-it-all lady!"

"And how about us..?" Sango asked him as she raised an eyebrow. "We're worried about Kagome, as well."

"Indeed," Miroku agreed, nodding his head once.

"I'll get her back," Inuyasha assured grumpily. "I can go faster without you lugs tagging along."

"If you say so," Sango replied with a heavy sigh as she began to massage her temple. "I don't want to be seen with you and Kouga together, anyhow."

"If you do not mind my interjecting, Inuyasha..." Miroku added, resting his gaze on the view framed in from the doorway. He was watching a retreating figure with a raised eyebrow. "I think Kouga will beat you there."

"What?" Inuyasha snarled, standing and spinning on his heel in time to see Kouga disappear from the edge of the forest. "That bastard!" he yelled as he sprinted off after his rival in the light of the declining sun. Sango, Miroku, and Kaede all sighed in unison...grateful that they weren't to be included in this particular journey, after all.

* * *

"Beat it, dog crap!" Kouga threatened with a dark glare as Inuyasha kept a close pace with the wolf demon solely through an extra boost of ego.

"I'll take care of Kagome, you bastard!" the half-demon insisted with forceful conviction. Kouga sent him another withering glare but made no further reply.

They had been bickering steadily since the time they had departed from Kaede's village, and Kouga was growing more and more weary of arguing. The insults were repetitive, but neither demon would launch a physical attack against the other in their haste to find the Oracle. Finding Kagome was a task more important to both demons than arguing was.

Inuyasha snorted once after several moments of tense silence. He, as well as Kouga, was growing tired of the arguments, but his pride would not allow Kouga to have the last word.

By the time the two demons neared the trail of mountains, the sun was low on the horizon and cut sharply by the spiked peaks of the rocky caps, smeared and glowing red in the sky. They paused as they approached the new area, quietly observing what was laid out before them. Inuyasha, panting and wiping a way a thin film of sweat from his forehead, allowed his eyes to roam steadily over the outcropping of skyward reaching mountain peaks. There was a forest of sturdy, short trees that crawled messily around the feet of the mountains and remained green despite the oncoming season. Inuyasha sniffed at the air suspiciously at a gentle breeze that smelled of pine mixed with the scent of enchantment; he detected no signs of animal life but for a group of willowy birds soaring and cawing overhead.

"This place reeks of magic," Kouga murmured, narrowing his eyes dubiously.

"You think I can't tell on my own?" Inuyasha snapped. Kouga only huffed and growled once.

The two demons took a much slower pace, more apt for exploration, and wandered up the stoney landscape. They worked their way upward, searching small caverns and looking into crevices and observing every ledge and crack. They cautiously kept going, laying out each curve of every stone, until finally they found a pocket of air in one cave that smelled heavily of hazy mist and something bittersweet. Growling and on-guard, the two demons carefully poked into the shady grotto.

Further into the cave, where the sunlight hardly touched, a woman sat in the shadows. Her long black hair trailed from underneath a hood that veiled the woman's entire head and her eyes. The longest of the strands pooled on the floor where she sat motionless with her delicate hands in her lap.

"You're the Oracle," Inuyasha stated. The pale woman nodded once slowly in confirmation.

Kouga's expression became puzzled. "Why didn't we come here sooner?" he asked suddenly. "Can't she tell us where Naraku is?"

"Oh, like she really cares about Naraku," Inuyasha snapped. The Oracle waited in silence as the two demons continued to bicker, until their snarling grew into growls and their words turned into punches.

"Silence," the Oracle finally ordered when Inuyasha and Kouga crashed into one of the smooth cavern walls, shaking several wooden shelves that held unmarked jars.

"Tell us where Kagome is," Inuyasha barked when he and Kouga had separated.

"You idiot," Kouga broke in. "We're supposed to ask a question, mutt."

The Oracle cleared her throat when Inuyasha turned to growl at Kouga once more. "Ask but one worthy question, and I shall answer you. I care not for human squabbles, nor for the bickering of demons, but if your cause is worthwhile I might lend you my knowledge."

"Where's Kagome?" Inuyasha and Kouga asked at once together, exchanging heartfelt glares.

"And why would you wish to know this woman's whereabouts? Answer honestly; you have but one response. If I do not approve of your reasoning, I shall not answer you," the Oracle instructed, smiling secretively. She knew already for what reasons Kouga and Inuyasha sought after Kagome, but the old Oracle also knew that they would both need a sense of purpose for their journey before they could commit to it.

"She's my woman, damn it," Kouga grumbled without hesitation. The Oracle nodded once and Inuyasha glared at him. Inuyasha paused before he answered, fidgeting under the Oracle's veiled stare. He hardly thought the Oracle would approve of his normal excuse of his claim over Kagome as his shard detector.

"And you?" the mystic woman pressed after a moment, her red smile still in place.

"C'mon, dog crap." Kouga snorted in annoyance and disgust. Inuyasha licked his lips, thinking that the Oracle also would not approve of his deed as a return of favor for Kagome's trip into hell for him.

The Oracle shifted once on her cushion. "Do you even know your reason? Or are you blindly following after her in a rage?" she asked.

"What do you know?" Inuyasha snipped, baring his teeth in a sneer. "Of course I'm going after her because I care about her! Wouldn't you?"

"Perhaps," the Oracle answered. "But most likely not."

"What, are you crazy? I'd do anything for Kagome!" Inuyasha assured. The Oracle only went on smiling, and then she gave a small nod.

"I simply meant that your female companion is not unhappy where she is now," she explained tonelessly.

"Where is she?" Kouga asked.

"With the powers inherent to her, she has transported herself into a different realm entirely. She has taken herself to a realm of purity and peace, somewhere of finality, some place where, indeed, she is not out of place. She no longer has any pressing worries; no reasons to fear anything at all. She is there comfortably only because she is so pure of heart and soul, with such deep powers, that she was mistaken for one of their own. Yes, she is in a place of great wonder where the immortal may never go," the Oracle explained, her voice older and much more deeply tired than her smooth, thin hands and warmly blushed cheeks.

"And where is this?" Inuyasha responded as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the Oracle.

He could feel the Oracle's eyes on him, although they were covered. "She has gone to heaven."


	2. Chapter 02: For Heaven's Sake

GODSPEED

Chapter 02: For Heaven's Sake

* * *

"She's in heaven?!" Kouga howled in disbelief as Inuyasha's jaw dropped. Kouga looked heart-broken as he turned back to the Oracle. "She's _dead?"_

"Of course she isn't dead, you idiot!" Inuyasha snapped at the wolf demon as he leaned back against the wall, as if trying to regain his strength and composure. While Kouga sputtered, Inuyasha righted himself and turned back to the smiling Oracle. "How do we get to her, wench?" he demanded.

The Oracle's gentle smile turned playful. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed, mistrusting the look on her face.

"You have asked your question already, and received your answer," she told him. "I have told you where the girl is. I am allowed to answer but one question, and I have told you the answer to yours." Kouga and Inuyasha stood, mute and surprised, for the several minutes following the Oracle's emotionless statement.

"But...there are two of us!" Kouga reasoned. "So we should get two answers."

The Oracle laughed lightly and then considered his statement. She leaned back and pressed her long fingers to her chin thoughtfully.

"So there are two of you. Very well, then," she said. "Two answers for two men, as long as you can behave as two men and not as two enemies." She let this statement sink in for a moment.

"We're not fighting now," Inuyasha snarled at her.

"We always act like men...at least I do," Kouga agreed, narrowing his eyes while Inuyasha growled at him.

"Two answers for two men it is, then. Listen carefully."

"We're listening," Inuyasha grumbled. Kouga sent a quick, weak glare at him that Inuyasha either did not notice or did not bother to return. He was focused on the Oracle, awaiting her explanation.

"To find heaven from our own world would be impossible for normal mortals...even demonic ones," she stated smoothly.

"That's the dumbest answer I've ever heard!" Kouga yelled with feeling.

"There has to be some way! So tell us now!" Inuyasha ordered over Kouga's own declaration.

The Oracle glanced between the two men watching her, waiting in defensive postures for her guidance. She frowned thoughtfully as Inuyasha began to growl impatiently and Kouga turned to him to order silence.

"I shall help you," she informed them with a serious voice. She parted the thin, mountain air with her pale hand. Where it passed, a watery image was left behind of a green hillside glowing gold with morning, and dipping beside it was a steep, shadowy valley so deep the sunlight could not touch it.

"What's that?" Kouga asked.

"Go down from the mountains in the direction of the setting sun," the Oracle explained as she stood from the stone floor. "Walk that way until you come upon this hill and its valley. At sunrise, stand atop this hill in silence and in stillness, and you will be taken to heaven." She had moved over to a row of shelves mounted on the mountain wall by then, and as the image of the hill faded she picked up a jar. She dipped her hand inside and then passed her hand over each of the demons' heads, and from her fingers fell a light powder that landed in their hair like snowflakes and then disappeared from view.

"Okay, let's---"

"Wait," the Oracle commanded as Inuyasha flicked his ears. "Listen to these words of warning before you depart. You are taking upon yourselves a dangerous work. You are going as living things into the land of the dead. The only way you shall accomplish your goal in this mission is by acting as two men and not as two enemies; if you may set aside your squabble and therefore reach out to the heavenbound as one, whole team."

Kouga yelled, "I have to work with dog crap?!"

At the same moment, Inuyasha howled, "I have to work with stupid?"

"Yes," the Oracle agreed tonelessly as the men once more exchanged glares. "When you arrive at the realm of heaven, some distance before the gate you shall be met by a small girl who will be your guide if you merely tell her you wish to pass the gates. She is the only person in heaven whose judgment is to be trusted. Others will wish to keep you there, or send you into hell, or simply banish you from existence. With this young girl's help and judgment, and with the cooperation of each other, you perhaps may find this woman whom you seek."

"Alright, let's go!"

"Once more, wait." The Oracle's voice was at once both so cool and strong that Inuyasha and Kouga, who had already picked up their feet and had taken their first steps into the last graying beams of sunlight, stopped and held themselves so silent that the cold mountain wind passing through the stones seemed to wail and moan around the cave. "You do not have unlimited time."

"What? We have a time limit?" Kouga yipped as the two men once more faced the Oracle.

"You have already allowed one day to come and go. You now have seventeen days remaining to find this woman. Now, go," she commanded.

"What will happen if the seventeen days pass and we haven't found Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"I cannot answer you that," she said. "That is something that even I do not know."

Inuyasha and Kouga exchanged stunned glances at the statement before they darted off together in the direction of the setting sun, seeking out the hillside that would glow golden in the morning.

* * *

Rosy tints began to light up the crowned edges of the night sky, turning the world a milky purple color that dimmed the glowing stars above. Inuyasha sighed gratefully, glad that the night was finally drawing to a close. He and Kouga had seemed to reach a temporary lull in their ongoing personal war. They had argued from time to time throughout the night while they had waited---there was not much else to do but watch the moon follow its bright arc across the sky---but otherwise they stayed relatively silent as they wondered if the sun would ever rise.

"Finally!" Kouga proclaimed, smirking, as the first golden rays of the sun began warming the base of the world. Inuyasha leapt up from the ground where he had been sitting and waited once more, watching impatiently as the sun lifted itself up along the horizon like a slow creature climbing the sky. A sudden dizziness set in as he watched the sun. While he shook his head to clear it, a thick mist built around both he and Kouga, drowning to breathe in and blocking the orange sun from sight---Inuyasha caught only a faint glow that was quickly gone.

When the mist disappeared and Inuyasha was able to clear his lungs of the moisture, he stood tall and swept a glance around his surroundings. He saw that Kouga had also recovered and was, like himself, taking a review of what was around them. They exchanged glares and went back to observing.

The sky was dark overhead, as if they had retreated into the night. They were surrounded by strange twinkling stars, bright and in foreign arrangement, that glimmered like drops of pearly snow above them and around them---they were surrounded by glowing orbs and specks. Inuyasha and Kouga were standing on a cobbled road that cut through the endless night. Long, black iron lamp posts guarded the road and flickered with candle lights. Occasionally, a thin wisp of cloud flowed through the road, always seeping towards a strange, gold-glimmering gate in the distance. In the opposite direction, the road continued on and on until it disappeared into the blackness.

Inuyasha shook his head.

"Alright," he mumbled. "Aren't we supposed to find some twerp around here somewhere?"

"Yeah..." Kouga answered. "Uh..."

The two demons began walking towards the gate, standing as far away from one another as they could manage as they took note of everything around them, as if they could not quite grow accustomed to the solitary street surrounded by stars.

They were nearing the gate faster than they had realized when a small girl stepped up to them---almost as if out of nowhere---and smiled brightly. She was pale with short, dark hair framing her round face. She stared up at them with a set of great blue-brown eyes, innocent and childish.

"Hello!" she chirped cheerfully. Inuyasha and Kouga looked down at the grinning little girl. "I am Leilani, guardian of this and that," she introduced. "Say it! It's Lei-la-ni!" she told them as she twirled in a happy circled and chanted her own name again and again, delighted.

"Alright!" Inuyasha sputtered over her noise, done being bewildered with her. "Now show me to Kagome!"

"Show _us _to Kagome, dog breath," Kouga corrected with a snarl.

"Shut your mouth, stupid," Inuyasha growled back.

"Leilani, the guardian of this and that, wants to know why you are here," she said suddenly, as if only realizing that she had never met them before. "Do you wish to go beyond the gates?"

"Yeah," Kouga and Inuyasha answered at once, exchanging heart-felt glares.

"We want to find Kagome," Kouga added.

"Then follow me!" Leilani ordered, cheerful once more. "I know all the ways to go beyond the gates and all the ways to find Kagome," she said. "Because I am the guardian of this and that!"

Inuyasha and Kouga reluctantly followed the small girl as she started off towards the gate with bare feet, first skipping excitedly and then running happily and then twirling and dancing down the cobbled road. She flashed underneath the lamp-light as she passed beneath the strange glowing lanterns, free of worry and free of constraint and entirely, wholly glad with just being.

* * *

Leilani, who still led Inuyasha and Kouga through the cobbled street, paused in walking. They had been going for what seemed like several hours---although it was impossible to tell by the stars that remained stationary except for twinkling around them---walking around the golden fence as if the gate did not exist. Only for Kagome had Kouga and Inuyasha managed to keep their tempers checked against the little girl who hummed, chanted her name, and talking about nothing in particular without ceasing.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and tried to find an end to the golden fence. The whole length of it, reaching up as tall as a line of trees, glittered and sparkled in the lamp-light that circled it and never seemed to finish. It kept going, bordered by a thin stretch of the cobbled road around the edges that met the poles of the fencing. The stars sparkled around them like far away sparks, never-ending as the fence. Inuyasha noticed that there seemed to be great patches of blackness in between some of them, while others clustered tightly together and blinked merrily.

"What happens if you fall off the street?" he asked suddenly.

Leilani cocked her head thoughtfully. "You don't come back," she answered.

"Are those stars?" Kouga wondered.

Leilani laughed. "They aren't quite stars, but they are something like stars," she said. "They are dead stars, galaxies, a universe," she said with a smile.

"What does that mean?"

"It doesn't matter," she said brightly. "Come on, this way!"

Both men looked at Leilani, forgetting all about the strange stars, as she lifted up several stones near the golden fence. She placed them nearby the hole she had unearthed and wiggled underneath, like a dog going under a fence. Inuyasha and Kouga followed her, grumbling until Leilani turned around and hushed them noisily. While Leilani turned around and tugged the stones back into place, Inuyasha and Kouga waited for her. They were lost in some great darkness that not even their keen demon eyes could resolve. They simply followed Leilani, who seemed glowing in the endless darkness. Eyes seemed to watch them in the blackness, unseen but smiling, and Inuyasha shifted uneasily.

"Hey, we haven't got all day," he finally snapped after they had been crawling along the ground for some time. The air was warm, moist, and suffocating, and it gave Inuyasha some primal memory he couldn't quite piece together, but it made him wary. "I don't want to crawl forever. Speed it up, Hayfunny."

"It's Leilani! See? Leilani!" she corrected, bobbing her head with each syllable of her name. Inuyasha watched her dark hair rise and fall in time.

"Right! Just speed up!" Inuyasha ordered angrily.

"We must be careful or we'll miss our door. Do you want to miss the door?" she asked as she smiled brilliantly over her shoulder at him.

"You're more annoying than Kouga!" Inuyasha hissed to her as he stopped himself from hitting Leilani, as he long would have done to Shippou. Kouga, crawling next to him, elbowed Inuyasha hard in the ribs. Inuyasha growled and swiped at Kouga's arm.

"How long is this going to take?" Kouga asked as he snarled at Inuyasha and sent a fist awkwardly into his cheek.

"How long? I can't remember," Leilani answered with a delighted laugh.

Finally, while the two demons continued to brawl with one another, Leilani paused her crawling and stood up suddenly to her full height. Inuyasha and Kouga warily followed her into a standing position, grumbling at one another to express their own uneasiness. Leilani pulled open an unseen door.

White, unbroken light spilled from it and stretched out into the darkness like a light spilling into a hallway. They stepped inside the blinding whiteness, all three of them together, with Inuyasha and Kouga squinting at the sudden brightness. The door closed behind them swiftly with a soft click, and a chattering laughter broke out in the darkness behind them.


	3. Chapter 03: I'll See You in Heaven

GODSPEED

Chapter 03: I'll See You in Heaven

* * *

Eventually, Inuyasha was able to make sense of his surroundings as they resolved sharply and came into focus in the sudden wash of bright light. He stared stiffly out at a world that seemed much closer to Kagome's time period than his own.

Inuyasha, Kouga, and Leilani had stumbled into a long meadow with waving, green grass that was dotted with tiny wild flowers. The air marked the weather seasonally as spring; the breeze smelled sweet, a little like honey, and it was warm and gentle. Inuyasha turned, but in any way that he looked he could no longer find the door they had used to enter---it was as if they had stumbled into another realm entirely on accident. Without a door, he was left to examine the world, instead.

Among the grass was a sea of garden tables, separated by comfortable distances. At the tables, laughing and chattering women sat in wicker chairs, all looking delighted and cheerful. They were dressed in an array of different clothes. Some were formal or partially formal in heavy kimonos, floral-patterned dresses with pale yellow hats on their heads, or elegant summer dresses while others were attired in what Kagome had told him were denim blue jeans and cotton tee-shirts.

"This is the women's social," Leilani explained brightly as Kouga and Inuyasha uneasily observed the scene laid out before them. "Lots of grown-up women come here to talk and eat."

"Then why the hell are we here?" Inuyasha groused with a sniff of annoyance. "I don't want to be with all these blabbering women." Kouga nodded briefly in agreement before he realized what he was doing and resumed a stiff, stationary pose.

"This is the first place to look for Kagome!" Leilani informed them with her big, cheerful smile. Inuyasha and Kouga exchanged glances somewhat ruefully before allowing their eyes to solemnly move over the clusters of women once more. There were only a handful of men among them, and they were all searching through the tables with apparently the same goal in mind as the two demonic men---to find someone.

Inuyasha grumbled wordlessly and started rambling through the spaces between the tables, peering around for a familiar face. He also searched for any familiar scent, but soon ceased when he realized there were simply too many women to discern any direct scent. Everything was jumbled together.

Meanwhile, Kouga sighed and went off in the opposite direction to do likewise, uncomfortably browsing through the tables in search of Kagome. Leilani bounced along behind Inuyasha, humming songs and greeting various women as she recognized them. She seemed perfectly relaxed and at home among the sea of tables.

One woman laughed joyously as Leilani stopped to say hello. "Oh, good morning, Leilani," she said cheerfully. Inuyasha thought he had never heard a more contented, happier woman...and that unnerved him.

"Hi! What are you eating today?" Leilani responded to the woman, peeking up at the table that her friend was sharing with several other women. There were several plates, bowls, and glasses on the table.

"Mm, whatever comes to mind," the woman answered with a smile much like Leilani's. Inuyasha continued walking between the tables, determined to find Kagome. "Would you like something, as well?"

Leilani shook her head. "Nope, not today. I'm looking for someone right now. Have you seen a woman named Kagome?" she asked. Inuyasha paused wandering through the myriad tables and glanced back at the pale-haired woman with whom Leilani was speaking, wondering himself if the woman had.

"I'm afraid not, but you know not all the women come here to wait," she answered practically. Inuyasha grumbled and began looking through the tables once again. "A lot of women wait down in the gardens or in the stables."

"That's right," Leilani agreed, snapping her fingers. "We'll go down there next. Thank you!" The woman smiled and nodded, resuming her conversation with the other women at the table as Leilani skipped after Inuyasha once more. He could hear them coo about how cute Leilani was.

"How many stupid tables are there?" Inuyasha mumbled when the child caught up with him.

"A lot," Leilani answered truthfully and carelessly, shrugging her shoulders. "Do you think Kagome would be here, in the garden, or in the stables instead?"

Inuyasha thought for a moment and then flicked an ear. "What if there's a woman who doesn't like any of those places?" he asked.

Leilani shrugged once more. "These three spots were chosen based on their popularity through every time frame, through every generation." She donned a sagely look. "The greatest percentage of women from every generation enjoy a social more than a sports game, a garden more than a cabin in the woods, and the stables more than a zoo. It just works out that way. These are all places that work cross-generationally, too. There can't be too many places or it would be too hard to find anyone, and besides, most women don't stay here for very long. And even if they do, they don't really mind too much where they're staying, as long as it's comfortable and makes sense," Leilani explained. "It just has to be familiar."

"I guess," Inuyasha agreed. After a moment of retrospect, he added, "Kagome is social, so she could be here somewhere. But she also likes flowers and animals." He thought for a moment further. "She likes to do crap with her friends. Isn't there a hot springs or something? She really likes that."

Leilani shook her head. "No hot springs, just the ones I told you about already."

Inuyasha scowled. "She's probably walking in the garden with new friends," he said, almost grumpily. "Hey, Kouga crap-face!" he called over the noise of the chatting women. Kouga turned to face him, leaped over several tables, and set his opponent with a weak glare.

"What do you want, puppy?" he asked snidely.

"Kagome would probably be in the garden instead of here, wimpy wolf. Let's go."

Kouga glanced down at Leilani and his expression turned briefly thoughtful and pensive.

"A garden?" he repeated. "That makes sense, since she's a priestess and has kind of a connection with nature and crap." Inuyasha nodded and both men followed Leilani as she led them across the meadow, past the last of the tables. They walked for a while more, crossed the crest of the hill, and fell into the garden.

The garden was expansive, labyrinthine in design and in full bloom. To Inuyasha and Kouga, it felt as if they were walking through corridors of bobbing flower blossoms and heavy-crowned trees as they followed Leilani through the turns and the twists of the garden. As they walked, they observed several groups of women walking together while talking quietly to one another. They saw others sitting on benches, alone or with friends, as they entertained themselves with the flowers or with the garden pools. They also spotted one woman who slept against one of the tree's trunks.

"Hi, Linh!" Leilani said gladly to a woman who was talking quietly to a small group of people. A dark-haired woman, looking in her early twenties, turned to them and smiled softly and peacefully.

"Hello there, Lei-Lei," she greeted the small girl. She offered a brief smile to both Inuyasha and Kouga before turning to Leilani again. "How are you today?"

"Great!" Leilani said with her brightest smile. "But I'm looking for someone. Have you seen a woman named Kagome around here?"

Linh shook her head regretfully. "I'm afraid not." She turned to her company asked, "Have any of you seen a woman named Kagome?"

The women all offered their apologies to Leilani, Kouga, and Inuyasha and then went back to talking amongst themselves, waiting for Linh to finish her discussion with Leilani.

"Hmm," Leilani hummed thoughtfully as she tapped her chin. "Linh, you can do that thing with walls, right?"

Linh looked puzzled briefly before her expression turned back into her placid smile. "Yes," she said. "I can open doors that no one else can see."

Leilani turned to the two baffled men. "Linh can make her own doors!" she explained. "It's cool, it makes it easier to travel." She looked back at Linh. "Do you want to help us look for Kagome? It probably won't take very long."

Linh was quiet for a moment as she considered the proposition. She looked hesitantly around the garden once.

"I will probably be back here very soon, correct?" she asked. Leilani nodded her head vigorously. Linh smiled and commented that she would join them in their search for Kagome.

"Didn't the Oracle say not to trust anyone but the brat?" Kouga whispered to Inuyasha.

"Yeah...but the little twit is the one who asked the woman..." Inuyasha replied hesitantly. "So if we trust the whelp, then letting the woman along is probably okay..."

"I guess..." Kouga consented grudgingly.

"I still don't trust her, but if she can get me to Kagome faster..."

"Get _us _to Kagome faster, dog breath." Inuyasha scowled at his rival, but did not pursue a fight.

* * *

Inuyasha, Kouga, Leilani, and Linh continued to walk through the garden for several hours more, looking for any trace of Kagome. When she was not found among the flowers and trees, the small group moved on to the stables, and eventually back to the social. After combing through each location and stumbling upon no trace of the priestess, Inuyasha and Kouga became increasingly restless.

Finally, Linh spoke. "When did she die?" she asked the two men tentatively. Inuyasha and Kouga blinked in immediate response.

"What?" Inuyasha inquired dumbly.

"Er...how long has she been waiting here for you?" she questioned nervously.

"She isn't dead..." Kouga mumbled.

"She came here accidentally yesterday," Inuyasha said, unhappily looking up at the lazy white clouds in the morning sky above. The sun never changed its location---the time seemed to be a perpetual late morning. "And I don't know how long it's been since we got here, but we can't dawdle. We have to find Kagome."

"Oh!" Leilani said, planting her small hands on her hips and making an annoyed expression. "You didn't tell me that!" she reprimanded. "That changes everything!"

Linh smiled softly at the expressions on Kouga and Inuyasha's faces---a mixture of frustration and confusion.

"This is where women wait to reunite with loved ones they left behind on earth after they die, if there is someone with whom they wish to reunite," she explained in a quiet voice. "If a woman chooses to wait, it's usually that they are here waiting for one true loves or children---sometimes other family members, but usually it's children. They reunite here and then proceed to a different part of heaven together...they go to the real paradise, then. This is just a small waiting place. Leilani and I thought you were close with a dead woman named Kagome, so we have been looking for her here when she is actually in a much different place."

"Then we just wasted all that time?" Inuyasha whined.

"Shit!" Kouga swore. "Our time is limited! We need to find Kagome, fast!"

Leilani sighed comically and wagged a finger at both men reprovingly. "You had better explain this all to me so I know where to look! Leilani is guardian of this and that, but she does not read minds of stupid boys!"

Linh laughed gently at Leilani's reproachful attitude, and then the two men---scowling at everything---went on to messily explain their situation to Leilani.


	4. Chapter 04: I'll Remember You

GODSPEED

Chapter 04: I'll Remember You

* * *

Inuyasha's appreciation of Linh's ability to open unseen doors was steadily decreasing. She had used it once or twice, but the small group had still spent much time traversing everything from fields and forests to ball rooms and shopping malls (which was a concept that Linh had accepted the responsibility of explaining to the two demons---she also pointed out the difference between it and earthly shopping malls. You didn't actually buy anything at these; people merely went for the social aspect, for browsing around through shelves and racks, generally enjoying each other's companionship and nothing more but the pleasure of imitating something they had enjoyed doing during life). It was impossible, or at least difficult, to tell how much time had lapsed during their voyage, as well, since the sun firmly remained low in the eastern horizon, but Inuyasha knew that they had wasted many hours caught in what seemed like menial voyaging that he felt could have been avoided if Linh was more competent at opening unseen doors.

"We should stop now, if we're going to stop tonight," Linh said, interrupting his brooding. "There's a boarding place nearby here that's easy to get to, and I'm not sure where the next resting place will be."

"No, we can't---" Kouga started before Inuyasha could.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Leilani said as she disregarded the the two protesting males. While Kouga and Inuyasha spluttered, she yawned widely. "I'm getting tired, plus it'll be really suspicious if we keep wandering around all night long."

"How can you tell if it's night or day?!" Inuyasha snapped. "It's morning all the time! We have to keep going, or we won't get to Kagome!"

"We won't run out of time," Leilani assured confidently. Linh, meanwhile, swept her hand through the air in a gentle gesture, combing her fingers through something entirely invisible to Leilani, Kouga, and Inuyasha. Where Linh's hand passed, the air parted.

"We do not want to exhaust Leilani," Linh added after the difficult part of her job was finished. "She _is _your guide here."

Inuyasha and Kouga grumbled but conceded to Linh's explanation as she stepped through the opening in the air. Leilani skipped after her and the two demons straggled along behind them, barely paying mind to the temporary door as it sizzled shut behind them---they had seen such a display earlier in the day. Most of the time, Linh opened doors out of nowhere that seemed as if they could belong to any house; some slid, some swung outwards, some simply parted. However, some seemed liked rips in the air that fizzled and popped. This had upset the two suspicious canine demons the first time they had seen it, but they had gradually accepted the unnatural doors.

While the door disappeared entirely behind them, Inuyasha and Kouga slowly followed after the two girls and observed their new surroundings. They were walking in a meadow soft with pale moonlight made sharper only by the darkness of an unlit, empty world. There were trees at the far end of the meadow, heavy with shadow, that swayed softly in a saccharine breeze. They, themselves, were approaching a small wooden hut that looked much like Kaede's, but that it had a Western-style door. When they reached it, Leilani pulled open the door of the wooden structure. They stepped inside and the moonlight illuminated the sparsely decorated room---it was larger than it had seemed from the outside, with four plain beds and no more. Leilani crawled into the first of the beds, not even taking the time to snuggle under the quilts, and was immediately asleep. Linh cast the men a hesitant glance before claiming the second of the four beds. As she drifted off peacefully and quickly, Kouga sat on the edge of his bed. At once, a sleepy look overcame his otherwise alert features and he leaned back against the mattress.

"Do you think angels dream?" he asked speculatively. Before Inuyasha could insult him for what he felt was a dumb inquiry, the wolf demon was sleeping soundly. Inuyasha snorted and walked past the fourth bed, pausing at the window to look up at the moon---his constant comfort in the deep nights spent camping in the woods of feudal Japan.

His features relaxed from the scowl they had been in.

"Why would an angel dream?" he asked uselessly, glancing up at the pearl in the sky as it cast a sheet of white light to the dark ground. "This is heaven...what else could you dream of now?"

He shook his head, cursed Kouga and his current situation, and retreated to the remaining empty bed.

He had thought that he would not sleep that night---he had decided he would not---but as soon as he touched the bed a wave of exhaustion overcame him. Before his eyes closed, he concluded that the beds were enchanted to grant easy, peaceful slumber. Even Kouga would not have fallen asleep so easily otherwise, and after all---it would be terrible to come to heaven only to contract insomnia when you wished to rest.

He closed his eyes and stopped worrying about it as he fell asleep.

Inuyasha might have been convinced that angels did not dream, that they had nothing of which to dream, but he himself did---or rather, he remembered something while he slept. He remembered Kagome, days after they had returned from hell and days before she had gone to heaven. He remembered one of the times of peace they had captured between everything else.

_There was one simple question that he wanted to ask her. It had been tugging at his mind since they had returned from hell, but he could never find the courage to ask her. He had excused it for a number of things---the others were always around them, Kagome was too busy resting or working, or it seemed like the wrong time to ask it._

_But those excuses would not and could not work now---it was late evening, just after a supper of his favorite cup noodles, and he and Kagome were alone for awhile. Their conversation had already tapered off slowly and peacefully as they had watched the sun set---now the moon was part way up its journey through the sky and they had stayed silent for some time._

_Finally, he swallowed. _What kind of coward am I? _he asked himself. _Just do it.

_"Why did you come for me, Kagome?" he asked her in a flustered, ineloquent rush._

_Kagome looked over at him briefly in some surprise after she was able to discern his words, and then went back to looking at her knees. Her legs were folded beneath her and her hands had been sitting in her lap, but her fingers moved to toy with the fabric of her uniform skirt uneasily at his words. Inuyasha instantly regretted opening his mouth._

I should've asked it different, at least. Come on, that sounded really desperate, you dummy! She probably thinks I'm looking for reassurance or some crap..._he thought with several curses. He just wished to know the truthful answer, but he had mangled the chance._

_"Why wouldn't I?" she replied after awhile as she shrugged weakly. Her voice was quiet, uneasy, but as she resumed her answer it gained strength. "Inuyasha, I don't know how I can answer that. I think it would be best if I didn't try to..."_

_Inuyasha glanced over at her. Her fingers had moved from her skirt to plucking short strips of grass up from the earth, but her face was marked by a thoughtful expression that meant she was attempting to figure something out._

_"Why?" he asked, cocking his head in curiosity. He wondered if her answer would make her feel uncomfortable around him._

_Kagome hesitated for a moment. "I don't think I could find an answer that would satisfy the question," she said eventually. "I could say, you've done so much for me that it's only right I did the same for you. But that's not why I did it. I could say, because you would do the same for me. It's true, but that's not the reason I did it. I could say, I did it because I wanted to or needed to, or that I felt guilty, or that you're that important to me, or that I---that I love you, but that's not exactly it, either, even if all that's true, too. _I just did it. _Inuyasha, I didn't even think about it when I begged Kikyou to open the gate...I don't remember what I said to her. I just begged her to do it. And I sure don't remember what I was thinking." She looked puzzled and a little upset as she concluded her thought._

I just did it. _Inuyasha considered those words._ The same way I jump in front of you when you're in danger, _he thought. _The same way I would take any injury for you, the same way I would do anything just to see you happy.

_"I wish I could offer a better answer, but I just can't," she said quietly. "I apologize."_

_"Don't say that. I understand," Inuyasha insisted, swallowing thickly. "I understand what you're saying." Clumsily, he collected her small hand in his much larger one._

_"Inuyasha, I..."_

_"Kagome, you can't do that again," he whispered to her hoarsely. "You can't. I'd rather be dead than have you in that kind of danger again, alright? Do you get it?" He bit his lip as Kagome's features turned into a small scowl. "Nothing..." he stared again, "nothing...Kagome, when I couldn't do anything...when that devil was in the prison cell, and when Susumu had you...nothing is worse than feeling that fear...so just don't do it again."_

_Kagome shook her head. "I don't understand how you can ask me to do that."_

_"Kagome, I can't explain to you why," he said. "Any more than you can give me a reason for what you did, but I can try." He unfolded his hands from hers and laid it palm-up in her line of sight. "Look. I have these scars, these calluses, because I protect you." He picked up hers and compared it. Kagome seemed puzzled for a moment. She had always known and accepted that she was physically weak compared to Inuyasha---he was a half-demon, and he had lived a life of battle. She was new to it. She was largely protected from it by Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango. But she had never realized what stark difference separated them---how much Inuyasha actually _did _for her._

_"Inuyasha..."_

_"Listen, I'd do anything, anything, to keep you alive. I'd do anything to make sure your hands always stay this way." _Soft, undamaged, and as unfamiliar with pain as possible. _"But that means if I'm not here anymore, you can't do stupid things like go into hell for me. I'll find a way on my own, Kagome. Promise me, Kagome, promise me you won't do something like that again."_

_Kagome shook her head once more. "I understand what you're saying, but I can't make that promise," she said. "I wish I could, but I can't. But I can promise that I won't ever let you go so easy, ever again. I'll be more careful, I won't ever let Naraku trick me like that again." She yawned and slowly moved closer to Inuyasha as he tried to decide upon a response. Before he realized it her, her head was leaning against his shoulder._

_"I hope this is okay..." she mumbled, looking up at the gathering the stars. "It's kind of cold tonight."_

_"Keh," Inuyasha replied, realizing the unsatisfying end of their prior conversation. Blushing, he dropped his arm around her shoulder and let his previous thoughts fade._

_"Still," she said, turning her face so that she was pressed against him. "I'm glad it's all okay now."_

_"Yeah..." Inuyasha agreed. Her breathing evened out, shallow and peaceful. "I promise I'll never let anything hurt you again...I'll protect you, Kagome."_

_"You already do that," she answered sleepily. Inuyasha's face heated up with a blush of embarrassment---he had thought she had fallen asleep._

_"Yeah, but..."_

_She laughed lightly against him. "I know you will. You always do," she said. "Through heaven or hell or anywhere between, you'd save me from anything...chase away any guy that comes near me...make me fail every test at school...prevent me from going home to visit my family...jee, it's a good thing you're so great at this body-guard thing," she joked._

_Inuyasha grumbled wordlessly as Kagome drifted to sleep. Painfully, he recalled everything that they had been through in the past several days and his arm tightened around her of its own accord._

_He had once said that being with Kagome made him happy, and because of that, guilty as well. But in his heart, there was a growing joy of simply being in her company that was overcoming the guilt, and sometimes, while the others were all asleep, he put his problems far away and imagined a life where that happiness was something he was allowed to have without remorse, without owing himself to anyone for anything, without revenge to find, without anything at all but the pure peace of being with Kagome._

_She mumbled against his shoulder in her dream as Inuyasha felt his thoughts drifting to that life again._

* * *

Comments: I know some people were unpleased that I didn't have much fluff in BH&H, so for all of you who've stuck with me, here you go. I'm terrible at WaFF, particularly canon WaFF, but there's my shot at it. ^_^


	5. Chapter 05: Never Let You Go

GODSPEED

Chapter 05: Never Let You Go

* * *

"Pretend like you can't see them," Leilani whispered as quietly as she could to Inuyasha and Kouga. Both men were staring in amazement with their jaws dropped at a series of white-winged angels who landed on the shore with the completion of Leilani's directive.

They had been walking all day, following a morning that started rather roughly when Inuyasha awoke Kouga by punching him in the face. Inuyasha felt it was only fair because Kouga had been mumbling about his own ability at protecting Kagome in his sleep, which, of course, put Inuyasha's state of mind into upset. They had spent the entire morning arguing as they followed Leilani and Linh across all of heaven's wide-reaching planes of all distinctions, so concentrated on their fighting that they missed all the details of places that had been and would be on earth---imitations they would never see again in life.

Eventually, they had arrived at the seashore. Leilani told them that they were going to a small island way out at sea, which they would reach by boat. Kouga and Inuyasha's argument abated some when they came to the sea, and instead they focused on observing the unnervingly joyous people around them. They were all happy, energetically throwing sticks to dogs or splashing one another or swimming, or sleeping in the sand under the sun. None of them had taken any notice of the four travellers as they approached the shoreline, where the water lapped up on the endless stretch of gold sand.

Everything changed the moment the angels, in a burst of brightness, appeared before them.

There were six angels that came, four men and two women. They each had multiple sets of long, wide wings that glowed white-gold in the sunlight shining off the marbled gray sea water. They were all very tall, much taller than any people that Inuyasha had ever seen, and they were armed with black, fire-stroked swords. Their faces were stern.

"We are searching for someone who does not belong in heaven," one of the angels spoke to those who had gathered at the seashore. Everyone had amassed as close to the angels as they dared to go, barely out of an arm's outstretched reach. They were pressed uncomfortably close to Inuyasha, which made him nervous, without worry or care.

"Stay with us!" someone requested, his voice full of joy as he laughed. "Don't leave again!"

"We are searching for someone who does not belong in heaven," one of the other angels repeated sternly.

"Bless me! Bless my dog!" someone added, grinning widely. Inuyasha's eyes passed over the crowd anxiously---they were all euphoric now, their faces full of peace and untouched, sleeping wisdom. Inuyasha quickly stole a glance of the angels, despite Leilani's warning.

"We are searching," a third angel prodding, "for one who does not belong. If you see one who does not belong in heaven, tell that one to depart."

Inuyasha's eyes caught on the tallest of the angels, a woman with brown-gold skin and depthless green eyes. His heart began thumping painfully in fear, his muscles tense and ready to guard against an attack. He mentally snarled at himself, embarrassed that he was so afraid of an angel---especially while the others around him shared none of his fear. Their faces showed only longing and terrific joy.

"We will do so!" someone consented. "But come back to us!"

Inuyasha's world seemed to grow infinitely smaller as he stared at the angels---everything receded around him like the ebbing tide, pulling away from him and his fear. The humans seemed to stop existing, and even Leilani and the others were immaterial in the simple knowing of the ethereal beings standing before him. The fear deepened, and longing soon joined it.

The angels slowly turned to leave, as if waiting for something.

"I don't belong here," Inuyasha admitted suddenly, his mouth moving and spilling words without consent. In the corner of his eye, quickly swallowed by the sight of the angels, he saw a brief flash of Leilani slapping her forehead while muttering something about stupid boys.

"I don't belong here, either!" Kouga added with an almost melancholy trepidation in his voice.

The angels faced the two men in the crowd, the others around them outstretching their arms and waiting for an angel to touch them. A moment passed, seeming to stretch on out into the sea, the intense gazes of the angels focused singularly on Inuyasha and Kouga.

"Come with us," one commanded.

Inuyasha and Kouga followed.

* * *

"Man, you've really done it now, you brainless turd," Kouga mumbled grouchily as he and Inuyasha sat at opposite ends of a chilly holding cell. Inuyasha snorted and sneered.

"It's not my fault, you wimpy wolf," he defended testily. "You followed them, too! Trust me, I had nothing to do with _your _idiocy!"

"But you just had to go and admit you didn't belong here!" Kouga shouted.

"You did the same thing, you moron!" Inuyasha pointed out with his nastiest snarl. "I---" he cut his sentence off as a guard, an angel with only one set of wings and maybe five foot tall who did not inspire the same fear and longing, swept slowly through the prison wing. Inuyasha and Kouga watched the winged woman's slow procession down the damp stone hallway; she did not turn to look at the captives. Eventually, her footsteps faded as she passed under the steep arch of the door at the end of the wing. Inuyasha and Kouga began growling in the new silence.

"We gotta get the hell out of here," Inuyasha stated passionately, standing up.

"Pfft." Kouga leaned back against the gray prison wall with a look of marked defeat on his face, the gold light falling from the roof as if from nowhere outlining an age and tiredness that seemed misplaced on him. "We're in heaven," he said. "It's not like we can just bust out of here the same way we would on earth. We're not dealing with humans and demons anymore..."

"Shut up," Inuyasha snapped. He leaned as close to the bars of the cell door as he could; he could not lean against them directly, as they were made of purity and threatened to overtake his demon blood if he pressed too hard against them. He could lean in far enough to peer out of the cell and look towards the ends of the otherwise deserted wing, where each door was barred with the same purity. If either he or Kouga had been human, or at least dead and beyond the limitation of species, passing through the bars would be simple work.

Kouga's eyes lit up.

"You're a half-demon..." he mentioned suddenly.

"No kidding, ignoramus," Inuyasha replied with a ruthless growl, turning to bare his fangs at Kouga. "Congratulations on figuring that one out, it took you long enough."

Kouga scowled. "Well, that means part of you is human."

"What else would it be, pea-brain? If you don't shut your lousy mouth, I'll rip it off," Inuyasha snarled, upset by the conversation. "We need to think of a way out of here!"

"Quit yipping, puppy! I have an idea!" Kouga shouted, a slow smile spreading on his face.

"Oh, wonderful," Inuyasha said sarcastically. "The wisdom of a fool."

Kouga did something novel and ignored him. "Okay, if you're part human, that means you can't be purified all the way by the gates...so you go through the gates, unlock the door so I can get out, and we'll make a run for it."

Inuyasha gave Kouga a deadpan stare. "Do you know how many gates are in this place? What if they don't have locks on them, just purity?" And he wondered at how difficult it would be to press through those numberless doors of purity.

"I doubt they don't have locks. After all, we were brought _in _here, weren't we?" Then he sighed. "Even still...if it is true there are no locks...at least one of us could still get to Kagome." Kouga adopted a grudging look on his face---it pained him to sacrifice his part in the rescue mission to Inuyasha, but if it was the only way to Kagome, he would do it.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, nodded his head slowly in acceptance, also mildly surprised at Kouga's suggestion.

"How do you know I won't just leave you here in the cell and go on?" Inuyasha asked him, narrowing his eyes.

Kouga glowered. "Like I said! At least one of us could still get to Kagome! For her, it's a risk I'm willing to take."

Inuyasha flicked an ear. "Alright, alright," he consented. "Damn it, here it goes..."

Inuyasha outstretched his hand slowly, and then plunged it through the pink light. He winced as the energy pricked his skin like a hornet sting. He grit his teeth and began painfully pressing against the door, groping for the clean gold light pooled on the gray stones on the opposite side. As sluggish as treading through water, he dragged himself through the electric pulses and eventually felt himself touch the stone.

When the pain was gone, his senses took a moment to come back to him. He was on his hands and knees, noting that everything sounded muted and far away, and that the precision of his smell was gone. His hands, holding up his weight, were perfectly human, and every part of his body was aching as if he had fallen from a great height.

"Damn it..." he repeated.

"Get up and let me out!" Kouga barked from the opposite side of the barrier as Inuyasha slowly and painfully picked himself up from the floor, wincing at the pain of shifting his weight and too-human balance.

"Ugh," he moaned, stumbling forward and catching himself against the wall against the purity barrier. He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and took a breath. "Shut up, I'm going," he said. Rolling his shoulders to relax his muscles, he moved to where a small lock was mounted on the stone next to a pink bar of light covering the opening to the cell.

He first reached a hand up to the lock, hoping to pick it with a claw, before he remembered he was human.

"How do I pick this thing?" he grumbled to himself.

"Use your wimpy sword to cut it," Kouga ordered, glancing nervously toward the end of the wing where the angel had disappeared some moments before. Inuyasha glared at his rival but pulled the sword from its sheathe.

"Tessaiga won't transform while I'm a human," Inuyasha griped, sticking the point into the lock with frustration. The blade, despite being in its simple, rust-chewed state, was still too thick to fit into the keyhole. He pulled the swore up and hit the lock with the hilt, growling at it.

It clicked open and clattered to the ground, where, as soon as it touched the flagstone, it crumbled into iron dirt. The purity barrier dissolved into clean, gold-washed air and Kouga stepped out into the hallway slowly, as if expecting to be sent back by a blast of power.

"Now which way do we go?" Kouga asked.

"This way," Inuyasha said, pointing to their left. "The angel went the other way, and there's no way in hell I want to be caught at the moment."

"Okay," Kouga agreed. "Me, either." The the two men sprinted down the wing as fast as they were able, Inuyasha slowed somewhat by his new human form. As they fled, wildly opening the barrier locks and racing down warmly-lit, musty prison halls, they were once more cooperating, in that they were both hoping they would be long away and reunited with Kagome before the angel could return to find their empty cell.

* * *

Comments: **Moonglow gal**, I'm under the impression that WaFF stands for "warm and fuzzy feelings." Kouga was undoubtedly dreaming of Kagome, knowing him! ;)

Everyone, thanks so much for the kind reviews! But I've decided it's time to wrap this thing up. Two more chapters maybe?


	6. Chapter 06: Eternity

GODSPEED

Chapter 06: Eternity

* * *

"I can't believe you made it out of there without our help!" Leilani said in amazement as Kouga and Inuyasha stumbled to a stop outside of the heavenly prison. It had taken them quite some time to work their way through the endless streams of stone corridors, shadowed by the constant fear of being trapped or caught or too late to save Kagome.

"What has happened to you?" Linh asked with mild concern. "You both look so tired."

Inuyasha growled. "I lost my damn demon blood!" Inuyasha explained grumpily, inwardly hoping that the change was not permanent. Linh and Leilani exchanged bewildered looks.

"Demon blood?" Leilani repeated dubiously.

"Yeah, can't you see? No claws? Black hair? Puppy ears are gone?" Kouga said as means of helping out while Inuyasha mockingly mimicked him. Leilani and Linh's confused expressions remained in place.

"You don't look any different to me..." Leilani replied easily. "You've always looked this way." Inuyasha and Kouga took their turn to exchange bewildered glances, momentarily taken aback.

"Do I have fangs?" Kouga asked suddenly, stretching his mouth into what looked like an awkward, absurd grin.

"What, do you think you're a vampire?" Leilani asked, suddenly giggling. Linh looked bemused.

"No, you don't have fangs," she answered while Leilani continued to giggle.

When Leilani's giggles abated, several moments of silence ensued. "Well," Kouga eventually said, "let's go find Kagome. We're criminals by now, which just means we need to hurry more..." He and Inuyasha both winced simultaneously, but did not seem to take notice of one another.

"Alright, this way," Leilani ordered as she marched off in a direction away from the prison. "We'll be in lots of trouble."

"One moment," Linh said. "There's a door here that we can use." Before she finished her explanation, she had already pulled open a heavy wooden door from the balmy breeze and held it open for the small party. Leilani spun on her heel without so much as a pause and continued her march straight through the door, disappearing beyond the light spilling from it. Inuyasha and Kouga followed, and finally Linh stepped in behind them and closed the door.

Only moments later, the prison emitted a group of furious angels, eyes blazing with anger.

* * *

Inuyasha and Kouga sat by themselves on the shore of the beach, some ways down from the rest of the population. They sat far enough away from the tide line that the sand beneath them was soft and untouched by salt water. Inuyasha was picking idly at the stocky dune grass that grew amongst the golden grains, and Kouga was building something from the sand that looked like a lump.

"I've kind of been thinking..." Kouga started almost without realizing it.

"Don't strain yourself," Inuyasha replied, stealing a line he had heard Kagome use on her brother before.

Kouga scowled. "I just mean, how long do you think we've been here?"

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know," he said. "The sun never fucking moves." Kouga snorted.

"What...what do you think we'll do if we've run out of time?"

"We'll find Kagome and take her home, anyway..." Inuyasha said, his voice thin but assured. "When have rules stopped us before?" Inuyasha shut his mouth after that statement, annoyed by his human state's ability to weaken his emotional barriers---he felt that he always blurted out soft-hearted, useless, _reassuring _thoughts when in his human form. Never would he have treated Kouga so kindly ordinarily.

Kouga gave a cocky grin. "Yeah, you're right." Kouga seemed satisfied, however, so Inuyasha said no more for some time.

When he had picked a patch of dune grass bare, he huffed. "When are those two going to be back with the boat?" he snapped at no one in particular.

Kouga stuck a tiny pebble on the top of his sand lump. "Don't know, but they better hurry. I'm getting pissed off waiting around like this."

"Keh," Inuyasha said as means of agreement. "What the hell is that supposed to be?"

"It's Kagome..." Kouga said.

"That is _not _Kagome," Inuyasha insisted, repulsed by the idea. "Why the hell would Kagome have a rock on her head?"

"I haven't done her head yet! That's her Shikon shards!" Kouga argued, flicking a wandering sand crab at Inuyasha.

"Well, you made her neck too damn fat, then!" Inuyasha retorted, brushing the small crab out of his hair. Kouga shaved off some sand from each side of the lump around the pebble. Then he began heaping on more sand for the head, and it began to take on the shape of two stacked lumps, conjoined by another mass of sand.

"Hrmm..." Kouga said thoughtfully, sitting back to eye his work critically.

"Get some water to make it stick together..." Inuyasha suggested, sticking a piece of grass into the collar of where Kagome's shirt would be, deciding it was passable to serve as the bow-tie of her school uniform. With the grass stuck in it, the lumps began to look something like a toad with its tongue poking out, and definitely something that would have offended Kagome should she have been there to see it.

Kouga and Inuyasha took turns running down to the ocean to get water, bringing it back in cupped hands and moving strangely to avoid from dribbling too much. With great care, they both got wrapped up in working on Kouga's sand lumps, shaping it into an even more unseemly, wet lump that Kagome might have even cringed at.

"What are you doing?" Leilani asked as she approached them.

"We're...uh...passing the time," Inuyasha said. "Sheesh, people of our caliber just can't sit around staring at the sky all day."

"Yeah...we're too mentally advanced to shoot the sky," Kouga continued, using one of Kagome's phrases.

"It's shoot the breeze, moron," Inuyasha corrected.

"No it's not!" Kouga insisted. "How the hell do you shoot breeze?" he asked.

"How the hell do you shoot sky?" Inuyasha retorted until Leilani grabbed his arm with a heavy sigh.

"Jeez, let's go! Linh's waiting at the boat!" Both demons forgot about their argument and raced towards the boat. It was tied securely to a dock, bobbing peacefully in the swells. Once everyone was settled inside, Inuyasha and Kouga each took an oar and began paddling the boat towards a lighthouse in the distance, rising from the waves like a pale tree. At about the same time they were able to paddle straight, their misshapen tribute to Kagome was run over by a dog chasing a Frisbee.

Everyone was quiet during the voyage. The further from shore they got, the darker they sky became--first it was the pink of early evening, which faded into purple that deepened and deepened into twilight, and soon they were rowing underneath the light of the clear stars framed in a black sky. The northern star blinked brightly, pulsing in the velvet midnight. The lighthouse's beam passed over the boat, circling around the water at a sluggish, tired pace.

"It feels like going home," Linh remarked suddenly, her voice even more calm and unusually quiet than normal.

"For some, it is," Leilani answered her over the gentle splashing of the water against the oars. "Those who live to be at sea may always return to the sea now." Her eyes suddenly seemed old and quiet. "But here, they cannot disappear or die in a storm. Here, they can always return to those who wait for them at shore." The beam passed over them again, stretching on the water and dipping over the waves like melted butter.

"Do you know someone who sails, Lei-Lei?" Linh asked quietly in her same shy voice. Inuyasha and Kouga remained silent---hey had spent enough time around Kagome to know when women wanted a talk without interjections. It often ended painfully to interrupt.

"No," Leilani answered. Then she grinned brightly. "But I always wanted to marry one when I grew up!" She laughed joyously and the lighthouse beam passed over them again. "This is better, though, being in heaven. But, sometimes it makes me a little sad to come out this way...I know all of heaven, but if you sail long enough, and keep sailing, you'll go sailing right out of heaven and into empty eternity..."

"Really?" Linh asked, a look of surprise on her face. "I did not realize one could leave heaven once here---once here permanently, that is."

"Sure...you can go back out the same way you came in, if you know where to go, or you can go on sailing...but I wouldn't advise it. If you don't know where the proper entries are, you can't get back in, and if you go sailing off there's no way to return at all."

"Why's that?" Inuyasha asked, curious himself.

"You know when you first came here?" Leilani started, shrugging her small shoulders. "Well, remember all those stars..? You get pushed out there...don't worry, it's not like you get burned up by the stars, but that's the nothingness. It looks terribly cold."

Inuyasha asked nothing else. After some time of silence, Linh spoke. "I cannot accompany you to the lighthouse, Leilani."

"I know," the child answered. "Only one can go with me, anyway."

"What?" Inuyasha and Kouga barked simultaneously.

"Well, Linh can't go in at all, it's impossible for her. She's a dead mortal who is just a soul right now. I can go in because I'm Leilani, guardian of this and that. But someone has to hold the door open from the outside to let me and and one more. That one can't be Linh, Linh can't touch the lighthouse, she'll be like a ghost. But one of you can."

Kouga and Inuyasha exchanged glances.

"I should go," Kouga said.

"I should!" Inuyasha insisted.

"But you're human right now, you can't protect her anymore!" Kouga argued. He and Inuyasha both sped up the thrusts of the oars, causing the boat to bob nervously on the water. Ripples spread noisily into the silence of the empty ocean, lit like bursts of white fire by the lighthouse beam.

"So, because I _am_ human right now is exactly why _I_ should go! What if there are more purity thingies we have to go through?" Inuyasha asked. "That way, you'll be stuck, and you'll have to come all the way back out to get me and we'll lose more time! We don't have a lot of time left!"

Kouga stopped himself before he blurted out his next argument. A moment of tense silence passed, during which the boat's speed returned to normal. All the tension seemed to leave as soon as Kouga sighed heavily and let his shoulders drop.

"Alright..." he grumbled. "But I've saved your ass countless times, so I saved Kagome, too, not just you."

"Keh, whatever..." Inuyasha retaliated, satisfied that he would be the one to rescue her. Silence resumed once more, Linh and Leilani peaceful, Kouga sulking, and Inuyasha anxious about reuniting with Kagome.

He swallowed thickly and glanced at the white lighthouse, looming nearer on the never-ending, dark horizon, splitting the sky where the ocean met it, a pillar in the blackness. Water splashed around the island on which it was built, foaming and churning around the rocky portion of it with the gasps of crashes. The smell of salt stung his nostrils with the upset in the waters.

The lighthouse beam passed over them and they rowed onward.


	7. Chapter 07: Forever & Ever

GODSPEED

Chapter 07: Forever and Ever

* * *

"Hurry it up!" Kouga yelled over the crashing of the waves. They had climbed up the rocky shore, barely able to hear one another over the sound of the sea and the rain lashing down from perfectly clear skies above. A mist crowned the entire island, making it difficult to see. Linh had elected to stay in the boat and guard it, while the others pursued the path laid out before them.

Kouga was holding the door open---an enchanted door that required him to stand in one area while the others moved on by him. Inuyasha paused in the open door behind Leilani and turned to face Kouga.

He hated Kouga. Kouga was a villain, as far as he was concerned, who annoyed him and who Inuyasha felt had no business treating Kagome the way he did. But he had learned that he could hate Kouga and still respect him, and he did now. Kouga did not have to venture beyond the realm of mortals, risking his soul, to save Kagome's life---but he had. He had designed the idea behind their escape from prison, he had searched for Kagome and never once did he complain about the possibility of losing his soul or being unable to return to earth. His loyalty to the young woman was genuine, and Inuyasha could only respect that even if it annoyed him to admit it. But loyalty and honor were, to Inuyasha, important virtues that he could only respect no matter how much he hated Kouga.

So he owed Kouga something, he felt. He owed Kouga a promise of his own loyalty to their cause.

"I will find her and I will save her," Inuyasha told Kouga over the rain and the waves. "I will bring her back." His voice was solemn, strong, and sincere. There was no mockery or trickery in his voice. His word was earnest.

Kouga nodded once, accepting this vow.

"Do what we came here to do," he encouraged. Then he smirked. "Dog-crap."

Inuyasha growled. "Stinky wolf!" He turned and stomped after Leilani. Immediately, Kouga stepped away from the gate outside and the door returned to place, blocking out the wind and rain. Inuyasha saw there was a doorknob on this end of the building, which would make it possible for he, Kagome, and Leilani to leave later.

He and Leilani had stepped into a hallway with white walls and white tile---it was comparable to a hospital in Kagome's time, even by the sterile smell of disinfectant, but Inuyasha did not recognize it. The ceiling was neither too far nor too close to the ground, but the walls seemed unnaturally close together and Inuyasha felt immensely uneasy in the empty closeness.

"Follow me," Leilani said. He did in silence. The hall seemed to go on forever, miles and miles of white broken only by doors with numbers on them. It gave him an eery feeling of deja vu---he had once been down a similarly modern hallway, in hell, when he was held in a cell.

He had assumed that, because this was heaven, Kagome would be safe at least---he had not considered that she might be just as poorly off as he had been in hell. He swallowed thickly and hoped that was untrue, that she was well and waiting for him.

They climbed several flights of white stairs and passed no one on their trek.

Finally, they arrived at one door that Leilani paused at.

"Kagome," she said brightly, grinning at Inuyasha. She reached out and grasped the silver doorknob, turned it, and opened it. Inuyasha stepped into the white room; it was decorated with white shelves that held ghostly images of things that Inuyasha could not recognize, awkward shapes very pale in color. He paid no mind to them and instead hurried to the only piece of furniture in the room: a plain white bed where a figure slept under white blankets. Leilani remained near the door and waited as Inuyasha, heart fluttering in his chest, approached the sleeping woman.

He reached out to touch her, but stopped when she rolled over.

He stepped backwards. She was still asleep, and he could feel his heart sink into his stomach.

"This isn't Kagome..." he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "This isn't Kagome."

"It is too Kagome!" Leilani insisted, stamping her foot on the ground and putting her tiny hands on her hips. "It is Kagome!"

"No, it's not!" Inuyasha argued, stamping his own foot on the white tile. "Take me to Kagome! _My_ Kagome, not _this_ Kagome, who ever she is!"

"This is too your Kagome! This is the Kagome you and Kouga were talking about!" Leilani insisted, her lip turning out in a pout.

"Kagome is not a little KID!" Inuyasha yelled over the sterile silence of the lighthouse. "Kagome is grown up!"

"Kagome's a kid right now because her soul is incomplete," Leilani began to explain with an annoyed sigh, her tone very matter of fact.

"What the hell?" Inuyasha snapped.

"This is the process for reincarnation," Leilani continued as if Inuyasha had not spoken to her. "It's called un-aging. During a period of time usually several days to several weeks, a person's character traits and personality are unraveled until only the pure soul is left, like the living part of a seed. Whatever traits are left when it is nothing but a soul are core traits, things a person is born with. And when a person is worn down to that soul, that vulnerable part of seed, it will be sent back to earth. Usually it's reincarnated, which is where accidentals in heaven go, but in this case Kagome will be sent to re-inhabit the body that has the remaining soul. I know so because I read so on her door," Leilani went on, pointing at the white wooden panel of the door. Inuyasha had seen no writing, but Leilani was a being of heaven and he was not.

He was not troubling himself with the source of Leilani's knowledge. One name repeated in his mind with her words, over and over, until he finally let it roll off his tongue.

"Kikyou..." he whispered, his eyes widening. If he let Kagome stay here, and become unraveled, her soul would be sent back to Kikyou's body. Kikyou would be whole again.

Kagome, no more than seven years old, small, and innocent as she had always been and would always be, mumbled sleepily and slowly awoke. Her childish eyes were alight with joy at nothing but simply being, blue and tired but undeniably happy. She rubbed them with her small fists, trying to clear the blurriness of waking. Inuyasha watched as Leilani went to the edge of the bed. Kagome smiled slowly at her and sat up. Her cheeks were padded with baby fat and dimpled more than they normally did as her smile broadened.

She turned and smiled at him, too. At this age, her smile was babyish and awkward---a little longer on one side than the other, but it was bright and it was pure and it was no one but Kagome smiling up at him out of those bright blue eyes.

_I will always protect you._

Somehow, beyond his consciousness, he knew that he could love Kikyou, or owe Kikyou something, or whatever else he felt for the undead woman who had been the one he had loved...and he would still never, ever be able to turn Kagome down from anything.

He smiled slowly, softly at the little girl in the bed and Kikyou was gone from his thoughts.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Kagome, this is Inuyasha! I'm Leilani. We're here to help you go home."

"Okay," Kagome agreed, entirely trusting and innocent.

"It's raining outside but...that's okay..." Leilani told her. "Are you afraid of thunder?"

Kagome stuck her nose up in the air and crossed her arms over her chest. She was dressed in a white yukata with no decoration, Inuyasha noticed as her little arms pushed the fabric around.

"I'm not afraid of _anything," _Kagome insisted.

"That's right," Inuyasha stated before he could help himself. "Don't be, because I swear I'll protect you...now let's get out of here."

Inuyasha and Leilani moved to the door while Kagome slid out of the bed, small feet touching down on the cold tile. But she didn't follow them.

"What's wrong, Kagome?" Leilani asked with a puzzled expression. Kagome held open her arms and waited.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha asked.

Leilani turned to him and stamped a foot. "You're so stupid! What are you waiting for? Pick her up!"

"What?! She has two legs, she can walk on her own."

"Carry me!" Kagome insisted.

"No!" Inuyasha argued. "You can walk on your own, I know you can! I don't want to lug you around!"

"Just do it or she might cry!" Leilani insisted. Inuyasha gave in at that. He hated to see Kagome cry, and he did not want to see that coupled with the squalling she would produce as a child. So, with a heavy sigh, he pulled the delighted child up into his arms before following Leilani back into the hallway.

"Hey, she'll go back to normal once we get back to earth, right?" he asked.

Leilani shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Leilani is guardian of this and that in heaven, not on earth." Inuyasha sighed once more and began following Leilani down the hall. Kagome, who was propped on Inuyasha's side with his arm around her middle, stirred and watched her door as they moved away from it.

"Ohh," she cooed suddenly. "I see angels!"

Leilani looked over her shoulder, made a disgruntled noise, and took off running down the hallway. Inuyasha, who remembered his last run in with the ethereal beings, did not look back and merely chased after Leilani as shouts erupted behind them. They raced down the halls and stairs until they finally came back to the doorway, which they were able to open up from the inside.

"Let's go!" Inuyasha yelled over the sudden noise to Kouga as they burst from the building. "No time to explain now!" he yelled when Kouga opened his mouth to ask about Kagome's appearance. Kagome was clinging tightly to Inuyasha and flinched when a rock fell into the sea, and then again when the thunder crashed overhead. Despite her earlier bravado, she did appear to be afraid of the thunder after all. He could feel her little face as she pressed it against his shoulder.

They rushed down the rocks and clambered into the boat. Inuyasha handed Kagome to Linh and immediately began rowing away from the lighthouse with Kouga. A group of angels, bright-winged and furious, exited the building and took to wing.

"Shit, we've got to get out of here fast."

"There's a door about ten feet that way!" Linh screamed over the noise of the storm that was beginning to fade as they left it behind. "Quickly as you can!" she ordered, a stark change from her normally calm demeanor.

A flaming arrow shot down from the sky and Kagome screamed, holding tightly to Linh, as it sizzled past them and was swallowed by the water.

"I want to go home now!" she cried out.

"We're going, don't worry, Kagome!" Leilani consoled. "Leilani is guardian of this and that, I won't let anything bad happen!" Inuyasha rolled his eyes and paddled fiercely in time with Kouga. A volley of fire-licked arrows rained down on them as the angels gathered overhead, obscuring the stars. The arrows swarmed down, cutting the lighthouse beam. One struck the boat and a flame blazed up. Kagome wailed.

"Jump ship!" she cried valiantly, wiggling in Linh's arms.

"Not yet!" the older woman commanded. "We're close!"

Another wave of arrows fell on them and the boat began to burn more brightly.

"Alright, jump ship!" Leilani said. "We'll have to swim the rest of the way!"

"I can't swim!" cried Linh in response.

"Me, neither!" Kagome added, crying and trying to get away from the heat of the flames. More arrows fell on them.

"I'll carry you!" Kouga said, grabbing Linh and Kagome and diving into the waves. Leilani and Inuyasha shortly followed. They all struggled sluggishly through the salty ocean water, gasping for air. Angels began diving into the water around them, causing white splashes of water to blossom in the sea. Inuyasha swore as one of the angels grabbed Kouga, causing Kagome to shriek unhappily. He launched himself towards the group and freed Kouga, sending the angel who had attacked them splashing into the blackness surrounding them.

"Keep going!" Inuyasha shouted hoarsely.

"No!" Kouga insisted. "You can't hold him off as a human! Take Linh and Kagome and go!" he yelled. They switched off and Kouga faced the angel, alone, as they pushed onward. Bobbing in the water with Inuyasha's support, Linh hastily opened the door as they reached its location.

"Come the fuck on, Kouga!" Inuyasha roared as Leilani splashed through the bright opening. Inuyasha thrust Kagome in after her. "Shit! Hold the door open from the other side!" he ordered, shoving Linh through.

"I can't for very long!" she warned as she struggled to keep it open. Inuyasha splashed over to Kouga and, together, they fought against the angel in the water, limbs dragged down by the weight of the sea. Kouga was using the small sword he usually kept at his side, blocking flame-licked attacks from the angel's own sword. Inuyasha joined in by unsheathing the untransformed Tessaiga and taking whacks at the angel when he could. Inuyasha and Kouga worked their way towards the door and eventually climbed through.

It closed behind them just in time to block the angels.

Once safely on the other side, Inuyasha scooped Kagome up again and the panting group rushed after Leilani.

"We have to hurry!" Linh screamed. "If they've seen where we've gone, they can create their own doors! That's how all the others have been put there!" They all took her warning to heart and rushed down lush green hillsides.

"I know an exit not far from here!" Leilani said gratefully. "Oh, Linh, you opened up a wonderfully useful door!"

One moment they were running through the wild greens of grass and the pinks and oranges of flowers, the gold of the sun overhead, surrounded by the serenade of screaming cicadas in a far off forest, and with one step they fell into total darkness that was not tall enough to stand up in.

"Follow me!"

Everyone followed the glow of Leilani at a desperate crawl. Voices chattered all around them, laughing and gleeful, but whoever might have been watching was ignored while the company progressed with only escape in mind. Finally, Leilani opened a door and they stumbled out onto the walkway around heaven, the same that was boarded all around by orbs of bright stars. There, everyone paused to recover, tumbling to the ground to pant.

After some time, they calmed, stood up, and arranged themselves as orderly as they could. Leilani then pointed towards the long path that Inuyasha and Kouga had followed upon arriving.

"Go that way," she said. "Keep following the bridge until you arrive on earth again."

"What about you?" Inuyasha asked, his human heart feeling unnaturally sympathetic, as it was wont to do. "Won't you and Linh be in trouble?"

"Nope," Leilani said, grinning brightly. "As long as you're gone, no one will mind anymore." Linh and Leilani exchanged somewhat secretive glances.

"Alright, then..." Kouga said, sounding a little disoriented. "Let's go back now."

"Bye, bye!" Leilani said. "I'll miss you! When you come back permanently, please come say hi to me! You're my favorite stupids!" Leilani hugged them both around the legs, since that was all she could manage at her height. Linh smiled peacefully at the disgruntled male demons.

"Yes, and please come see me, as well," she said softly. "I haven't had any such adventure in all my life, or afterlife." Then she put a hand against Leilani's head and waved at them.

"Uh, bye..." Inuyasha added. "Your help..." Leilani and Linh smiled, needing no more thanks since Inuyasha probably couldn't manage it. Kouga nodded in agreement, and then the two demons, with Kagome holding Inuyasha's hand and toddling behind, waved to Leilani and Linh.

They began walking down the path together, and, once they reached a foggy edge of the pathway, turned and waved to the two figures who seemed so small in the distance. Then they disappeared beyond the mist and landed somewhat painfully on earth.

"Ugh," Inuyasha said, immediately looking down at his hands. His claws were back and he sighed gratefully as silver-white hair fell into his face.

He turned to Kagome and found that she, as well, had returned to her normal self; she was a young woman dressed in a white yukuta that was much too short for her. And Kouga, it seemed, had returned to normal also. He held Kagome's hands in his own.

"Get away from her, flea-bag!" Inuyasha yelled, standing up and launching himself at Kouga. "After all you've put her through!"

"All that _I've_ put her through?" Kouga snapped. "Why, if it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have gotten saved at all!"

"You blasted, stinking, rotten wolf!" Inuyasha roared, unsheathing Tessaiga. "Today is the day I _kill _you!"

Kagome, shaking her head in disbelief and mumbling under her breath, was already walking away.

* * *

The End

* * *

Comments: Thanks so much to all my reviewers, whether you reviewed only one chapter or all of them, and those who e-mailed me. And thanks so much to every reader for taking the time to read this fic! I hope you enjoyed it!

xoxo Sissy


End file.
